Where Does Trick-or-Treating Come From?
Every Halloween, kids in some parts of the world wear costumes and knock on doors, saying "Trick or treat?" and hoping to get candy.
Trick-or-treating, as this is called, has been a Halloween tradition for more than a century. Nobody really knows how it started, but it's thought that it came from England, Scotland and Ireland.
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the UK and northern France, celebrated the festival of Samhain on October 31. They believed the dead returned to earth on this night, so people would wear costumes to protect themselves from them.
In the Middle Ages, people began "mumming," or wearing scary costumes and doing tricks for food or drinks.
By the ninth century, poor people would visit their richer neighbors, who would give them "soul cakes" if they promised to pray for the wealthier families' dead relatives. This was called "souling." Children started souling too, asking for gifts such as food and money.
In Scotland and Ireland, children would go "guising." They would wear costumes and get gifts of fruit, nuts or coins from their neighbors if they did things such as sing a song, tell a joke or do a trick.
The Irish brought Halloween traditions to North America in the 19th century, and trick-or-treating became well known in the US in the 1930s. However, it wasn't widely accepted until the 1950s.
Trick-or-treating is still popular today. A 2021 survey from the US National Retail Federation found that 66% of Americans planned to hand out candy this Halloween, and 25% planned to take their children trick-or-treating.
